The Ring
by cosmictrap
Summary: Nick finds the ring (actually meant for Schmidt's mother) in a coat pocket instead of Jess, and is convinced Sam is going to propose to Jess. Given that feelings that he'd thought were dormant had just been resurfacing, he is left reeling at his find.


**A/N: This is for Newgirlystuff! Hope it all goes well for you. Not one of my best, but I hope you enjoy this!**

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After Nick bid everyone goodbye, he turned to high-five Jess and she grinned at him, returning it enthusiastically. Nick stared at her happy face, and felt his heart flutter a little. He'd been worried about spending that much time with Jess every since he'd found out that he was the best man and she, the maid of honour. He'd been right to worry.

Watching her prance around shops and venues, picking things out for their bestfriends' wedding had done some unspeakable things to his heart. He knew she felt it too; the casual touching didn't seem that casual, they shared looks longer than _just friends_ did. And he just _knew_ that they'd both flirted on a few occasions. A brush of fingers here, a lingering touch there. He just knew that something was brewing between them.

He knew she was with Sam, and sometimes couldn't help but wonder if he was imagining those little moments, but he couldn't get rid of the sense of deja vu. It was like it had been; and the fact that she was with Sam now, made the sense of deja vu all the more strong. He would sometimes shake that thought away, but soon, he'd realized that whether or not Jess felt it, one thing was true - he was still in love with her.

The realization had come when he'd watched her order a cake for Cece's wedding while ruing how she'd want the very same cake; he'd caught himself making a mental note to ensure that that exact cake would be present for their wedding. The minute the thought passed, he had excused himself for a moment to the washroom and freaked out for ten full minutes before slapping some sense into himself. He'd washed his face and went back outside, a smile plastered on his face.

Now, after all guests had left, they watched Schmidt and Cece bid goodbye to each other. Nick had to try not to stare at Jess, but when he looked at Schmidt and Cece kissing, wincing in disgust, he would turn to look at Jess.

 _Too long, too long._

"Okay, you have a whole week to do this after tomorrow, now _move it!"_ said Jess loudly, tugging at Cece's arm.

The lovebirds parted reluctantly, grinning stupidly at each other.

"You heard the Maid of Honour, _move along!"_ said Nick, dragging Schmidt away.

Winston and Aly chuckled, and bid them goodnight before heading to Winston's bedroom.

" _I_ am the groom, Nicholas," said Schmidt, resisting slightly, "In terms of matrimonial hierarchy, I stand higher than the Maid of Honour."

Jess scowled at him, and then holding his hands up in surrender and snatching his arm away from Nick's grasp, he walked to his bedroom, giving Cece one last peck on the cheek.

"Cece, go on! Off to bed you go!" insisted Jess.

She turned to Nick and Sam. "I'll just make sure that bridezilla here is tucked in permanently. Until tomorrow."

Nick chuckled while Cece made a face. "I haven't been _that_ bad."

"Keep telling yourself that, sister," Jess muttered, dragging Cece away.

"I'll do the dishes," Sam called after Jess, who turned around and shot him a happy grin, mouthing 'thank you'.

"And I…." started Nick, looking around, as Sam headed to the kitchen. "…Will hang up everyone's coats."

Nick started to collect the few coats strewn around the living room. Gathering them all, he headed to the hooks by the door and started hanging them all one by one. As he started to hang one of the big ones, he realised he was holding it upside down, and as he tried to turn it to the right direction, a small black box tumbled out of it. Frowning he picked it and proceeded to put it in the pocket when he realised that it was a ring-box. He looked at the coat he was holding; quite big. He looked towards the kitchen at Sam's back as he did the dishes and then back at the coat, heart beating powerfully. Looking over his shoulder and turning fully towards the door, he opened the ring box and stared at the delicate ring in it - silver, delicately curved into elaborate vines and holding three diamonds in place.

The first thought that crossed his mind was that this wasn't a very _Jess-_ like ring.

 _But it's not about the ring. It's about the person giving it to her._

He looked back at Sam, and realised that Sam was everything Nick had never been. Quietly putting the ring back in the pocket, he hung it up and tried to take deep breaths to calm himself. Then he turned on his heel and casually strolled towards where Sam was.

"Need any help?" he asked, leaning against the kitchen island.

"Nah, I'm good," said Sam as he put the last dish in the rack. He turned around to face Nick, a thoughtful look on his face.

"So… you and Jess?" asked Nick, willing himself to go through this painful conversation.

 _Just to be sure._

Sam looked at Nick questioningly, with a small frown on his face. "Yeah… She's… She's great."

"Yeah," agreed Nick.

"She's really great," Sam said again, looking at him intently.

Nick laughed awkwardly. "I heard you the first time, buddy."

"Nick, why'd you both break up?" asked Sam, cocking his head to one side.

Nick stared at him, slightly taken aback. "Jess never told you?"

"No, she didn't. I know from what _you_ said that what you guys had was great, but…" he shrugged. "I don't know what went down between you two."

"We… We wanted different things," stuttered Nick. "She wanted a perfect house, near a lake. A horse and a dog. A white fence. Kids," he finished, chuckling nervously.

"Sounds like Jess," agreed Sam, hands in his pocket, waiting for Nick to finish.

"And I… I wanted to be a trucker…"

"I'm sorry, a… what?"

"A trucker, living on Mars," said Nick, frowning at how stupid he sounded.

Of course, he'd been thoroughly aware of that since that day, but it never ceased to amaze him as he tried to remember why he thought that would be an okay thing to say.

"Whoa. I- I… That's _something_ ," said Sam, looking at Nick wide-eyed.

"Yeah," he said bitterly.

"Do you er, regret it?" asked Sam, looking at him with an unreadable expression.

Debating his answer for a moment, Nick simply shrugged and said stupidly, "Jess is great."

"Right," said Sam, straightening as a determined look came onto his face.

As if one cue, Jess walked into the hallway. "Well, Bridezilla down," she said, grinning at the two of them as she walked towards the kitchen.

"What are you two talking about?" she asked smiling as she reached them.

Nick simply shook his head, but Sam gently caught Jess's arm and pulled at it. "Jess, I need to leave. But… I need to… Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, sure," said Jess, smiling. "Wow, you sound ominous," she said, chuckling.

Sam merely gave her a tight smile as he headed towards the door, Jess following him and looked at Nick over her shoulder, giving him a tiny wave. Nick smiled back, but he wondered if that had come off as a grimace because Jess frowned at him before turning around. Nick watched with bated breath as Sam opened the door and waited for Jess to come up to him. He watched as they stood in the doorway and Jess leaned against the doorframe. He saw Sam lower his head, talking to her in a low voice, and within moments, Jess had straightened, standing peculiarly still. In between, he saw Sam shoot him a glance over Jess's shoulder, but he had no time to feel embarrassed for having been caught staring. Sam had grabbed his coat - _was that the right coat? -_ and was leaving, and Jess was still standing at the door, unmoving.

"Jess?" he called.

She jumped startled, but didn't turn around. She slowly closed the door, and stood facing the door for a few moments, and Nick willed her to turn around. The curiousity was killing him, as he tried to fit together what he'd just seen. Her silence and stillness was beginning to induce anxiety in him.

"Jessica?" he said again, starting to walk towards her.

When he reached her, he put a hesitant hand on her shoulder, completely taken aback when she turned around and enveloped him in a crushing hug. He felt her tears wet his shirt as her body was wracked with sobs. Instead of asking her anything, one hand went around her back and the other gently stroked her head in the way he knew soothed her. They stood there for a while before Jess finally pulled away, sniffling.

"I'm sorry I got snot all over your shirt," she said, lower lip trembling.

"Hey, it's organic, right? Nothing a little soap can't do," he joked, instantly regretting at his ill-timed joke.

Jess frowned at him confusion, the tears still streaming down her face. "What?"

"I- I'm sorry," said Nick, shaking his head. "I don't know why I- I'm sorry, I don't why I said that."

Jess shook her head, still staring at him but with a look of mild amusement. They stood there in silence for a few moments, before Nick cleared his throat. "So… You want to tell me what happened?"

"Well, _this_ is embarrassing," she muttered, before sighing and looking at him sadly. "Sam left me."

Nick stared at her disbelievingly. Was this the Sam guy who was just telling him how _great_ Jess was?! Was it the same guy who had a _fucking engagement ring in his pocket!?_

 _"WHAT!"  
_

"Yeah," she said, wiping the tears off her face.

"WHAT," said Nick again, louder. " _The wedding's tomorrow!_ Why! I don't understand, I thought you two were-"

"No," she shook her head, eyes watering up again. "Nick, if I tell you, promise me you won't get awkward and weird…. And if you panic moonwalk away from me, I _will_ kill you. I don't care if Schmidt's getting married tomorrow."

Nick nodded warily.

"H-he seems to think… He said that he thinks that we…" she said, pointing at him and then at her.

Nick shook his head vigorously. "What, why would he think that! Jess, you would never cheat on him! I wouldn't _let_ you do that! I-"

"No, _no._ Nick, he seems to think that the two of us… are still in love with each other…"

Nick froze, and swallowing thickly stared at her. "I thought... I thought he was going to ask you to marry him!" he said, sighing, unable to help the sense of relief.

" _What! What gave you that idea!?"_ she said incredulously.

"I- I saw a ring. In his pocket."

Jess's eyes filled with more tears. "Oh, my god! It must've been for Diane!" she sobbed.

"No, no, Jess, I- I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything," he said pleadingly, hugging her again, wondering who the hell Diane was.

Almost as if reading his mind, she continued. "And… Apparently I'm great and stuff... But I'm not _Diane_ … his best friend," she explained. "He's in love with her. Sam is in love with Diane," she added laughing bitterly. "Well, at least in _some universe_ they'll be together, right?"

Nick was somewhat confused now. _Alternate universe?_ He had no idea what she was talking about, because he was still thinking about what she'd said.

"Sam is in love with his best friend," she sighed, and then realized what he'd said.

Then she simply looked at him, waiting for response of some sort as he stared at her. As he watched the tears fill her eyes again, he felt the familiar pull at his heartstrings.

"I am too," he whispered softly.

"What?"

"I'm in love with my best friend too," he said again, louder, looking at her.

She stepped back in shock, eyes wide, looking around frantically. "Nick, I- I didn't know! This is the worst possible timing! Why-"

"I- I know, Jess," said Nick, taking a step towards her pleadingly. "I wish I'd said something _sooner but-"_

 _"Damn straight you should've said something sooner!"_ Jess hissed. "He's getting _married tomorrow,_ Nick _!_ To _my_ bestfriend! Why are you telling me this?! Oh my god, this is-"

As realisation cross his face, Nick started to laugh. "Jess!"

"-the worst. What am I going to do! I love you guys but… Nick, oh my god! I dated you and I didn't know! I-"

Still laughing, he stepped forward and caught her shoulders and shook her once. "Jessica Christopher Day! I'm _not_ in love with Schmidt!" he yelled, still laughing. "It's _you_."

She froze and looked at him with wide eyes. "What?"

He let go of her and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah."

"Wow," she said frowning. "Schmidt won't be happy."

"Jess what are you-"

"That you called me your best friend," she explained.

Nick scowled. " _That's_ what you got from what I said!?"

"I- Well, I _don't_ know," she said throwing her hands up.

" _You don't know?"_ Nick asked, an eyebrow raised. "Well, let me clear it up for you then. Jessica Day, I love you. Always have, never stopped and never will," he finished, shrugging.

"Don't _shrug_ when you say things like that," said Jess, hands on her hips.

Smirking, and noting her lack of denial at both Sam's words and fury at Nick's, he was filled with confidence. He leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss on her lips, making her gasp. "Well, if you need a date for tomorrow, you know where to find me."

And with that, he sauntered off to sleep, leaving Jess standing in the hallway, utterly stunned. She stood there for minutes, hands on her lips, before she felt a small smile tug at them. Shaking her head, she looked at the direction Nick had gone and smiled a little, before hurrying off to her bedroom.

-fin-

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 **A/N: Yeah well, I didn't get them to make out fully cuz well she did just break up with Sam, so I thought it'd be weird. Hope you guys like it! Leave reviews place. I'm sorry, this wasn't _thattttt_ great. :/ **

**I know that some of you might have expected a more... _aggressive_ reaction from Nick, but I have a different plan for that iteration. A two-part fic that's going to be up soon! I swear. I'm kinda going a little mental, anyway, so lol. **

**And yeah, the Sam-Jess conversation is a little different, but I did find the show version a little odd. I mean... _you can't just leave your girlfriend with words like that, wtf!_**

 ** _Ritualistic Begging:_ Leave reviews, thanks.**


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